The Wizard (1989)

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross country with the help of a girl they meet to compete in the ultimate video game championship.

Director:

Todd Holland

Writer:

David Chisholm

Stars:

Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, Jenny Lewis

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Edwards	...	Jimmy Woods / The Wizard
Vince Trankina	...	Tate (as Vincent Leahr)
Wendy Phillips	...	Christine Bateman
Dea McAllister	...	Counselor
Sam McMurray	...	Bateman
Beau Bridges	...	Sam Woods
Fred Savage	...	Corey Woods
Christian Slater	...	Nick Woods
Will Seltzer	...	Putnam
Roy Conrad	...	Bus Clerk
Jenny Lewis	...	Haley
Roderick Dexter	...	Trucker #1 / Wrecking Yard Man
Ray Bickel	...	Trucker #2
Chuck Skinner	...	Grease Monkey
W.K. Cowan	...	Salesman #1

Storyline

Corey and Jimmy Woods are two brothers who are being separated due to their parents divorcing. Jimmy is a mentally unstable kid that has had problems ever since his sister died at a young age. One day, Corey discovers that Jimmy has a natural talent for playing video games. He is one of the best around, and the two journey to the West Coast to compete in a video game championship, but along the way, they must avoid the adults, who are trying to take Jimmy away.

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Plot Keywords:

nintendo | girl | 1980s | kiss | hitchhiking | 

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Taglines:

It's more than a game... It's the chance of a lifetime.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Brazil

Language:

English Brazilian Sign Language

Release Date:

15 December 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vidéokid

Filming Locations:

Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,278,900

Company Credits

Production Co:

Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions,Pipeline Productions,Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many NES games appear in the arcade scenes. Contrary to popular belief, this IS possible. In the late eighties/early nineties, Nintendo had an arcade cabinet called Play Choice Ten. These machines would let the gamer pick between a number of NES games and alternate freely between them for as long as a gamer wished - until time ran out, at which time the gamer would have to insert another quarter.

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Goofs

About 33 minutes into the movie, we see Corey, Jimmy, and Haley catching a ride in the back of a blue pick-up truck with some Navajo Indians, one of whom introduces himself in Navajo language. However, if you look closely at an earlier scene at the 27:30 mark, we see them getting out of the same truck with the same Indians. There is a continuity error here because the kids had parted ways with the truck after the first scene and got a ride with a biker gang. The two aforementioned scenes were obviously shot together and the editors overlooked or ignored this continuity problem.

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Quotes

Haley: I don't get scared.
Corey: [puts on mask] Never?
[Haley punches him]

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Nicktoons (2009)

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Soundtracks

I Found My Way
Written by Stacy Widelitz and Lara Cody
Performed by Sally Dworsky

User Reviews

A Commercial Classic

A touching drama about a young boy's quest to help his autistic younger brother and a troubled young girl they meet along the way running from her own demons.....

Okay, so it's mostly just a 90 minute commercial for Super Mario Brothers 3, but it's also a great road movie with plenty of classic 80's quotable material ("I love the Power Glove. It's so bad."). It has a good soundtrack as well.

I think if a person sees the film for the first time nowadays they might not enjoy it as much as those who saw the film growing up and enjoy that oh so good feeling of nostalgia.